This month Diabetes Update features an important new article by Certified Diabetes Educator Karen LaVine. Her article, “Who Needs a CDE?,” describes the six situations when you need one as well as how to find one and how to determine if the one you found meets your needs. The URL is this

My most recent articles are:

• My New Diabetes Articles for Health Central
  So far I have written more than 225 articles for Health Central about all aspects of diabetes. In November they published nine more of my new diabetes articles:

  1. Another Reason to Lose Weight. We have long known that being overweight leads to heart attacks and strokes, the major cause of death in this country, especially for people with diabetes. But not until now did we know for sure that taking off extra pounds is also the best way to avoid the number 2 killer, cancer.

  2. The Trouble with Diet Soda. Recent studies indicate that drinking diet soda can lead to our gaining weight. They can raise the A1C levels of those of us who have diabetes. And drinking them is also associated with a greater risk of heart disease. This article shows how.

  3. Eat High-Carb Low-GI Breakfast, Think Better. A new Ph.D. dissertation show that whole barley makes us think more clearly that three other grains do. The people who had whole barley for breakfast could concentrate better and had a better working memory than those in the other groups. The dissertation also show that low GI foods that have enough indigestible carbohydrates  — dietary fiber and resistant starch  —  can keep our blood glucose level low for up to ten hours and keep us feeling full.

  4. Clever Chek Meter. This simple little meter has only one button. But it has all the features that we need. And it’s reasonably priced.

  5. The Trouble with Fructose. Fructose is strange because it is the sweetest sugar and yet has the lowest glycemic index. The trouble with fructose is its impact on the liver, which almost exclusively metabolizes it, unlike glucose, which goes directly into our bloodstream. Even worse: High-fructose diets lead us to secrete more insulin, which in turn leads to more insulin resistance.

  6. Inflammation  —  Not Obesity  —  Leads to Diabetes. No one has ever demonstrated that obesity causes diabetes or even insulin resistance. Now researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine have discovered the connection between body fat and diabetes. Inflammation is the key. Their research proves that obesity without inflammation does not result in insulin resistance, much less diabetes.

  7. The Trouble with Non-Caloric Sweeteners. Even those sweeteners that don’t provide any calories aren’t a free lunch for our digestive system. Some research show that they can raise our levels of circulating insulin, which makes us hungry so we will probably eat more.

  8. Snowshoeing. Just because it’s getting colder and in much of the country snow has begun to fall doesn’t mean that we have to stay indoors. We can still get the exercise that everyone needs outside where it’s a lot more pleasant. The solution for me is snowshoeing, which is nothing more than walking with long, wide boots, especially if you start out on pretty level terrain. I am really looking forward to snow this winter.

  9. FiberPasta Challenges Dreamfields. An Italian company is poised to enter the American market with its FiberPasta for people with diabetes. They are challenging Dreamfields Pasta. I compare the two brands and pick the victor.

Dr. Richard K. Bernstein’s Webcast:

The next “Ask Dr. Bernstein” webcast and teleconference call is scheduled for January 16 at 7 p.m. EST. Just go to www.diabetes911.net and register for the call. It’s free.

Announcements:

• Health Central
  The Health Central Network continues to get better and better. It will now notified you by email of new articles (SharePosts) by me or anyone who posts at HealthCentral.com. Just click on “Subscribe” wherever you see that button there. The new software also now permits threaded replies to comments. So you will see more replies from me than I have posted since the major site revamp on March 1.

  Each month I describe and link my new Health Central articles here. But you can also use a blog reader to keep up with my articles more quickly. I use Bloglines, as I describe in my article, “Reading Health Blogs.” Go to bloglines.com, click on feeds, click on add, (both in left pane), then in center pane enter at “Blog or Feed URL” click on www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/17/rss/. Alternatively, you can subscribe to my new articles at Health Central by taking your browser to http://www.bloglines.com/sub/http://www.healthcentral.com/diabetes/c/17/.

• This Newsletter
  Diabetes Update keeps you up-to-date with new articles, Web pages, and books that I have written about diabetes.

  I list and link most of these on my at Diabetes Directory and in the site’s menu at the upper left of all my Web pages.

  From time to time Diabetes Update may also include links to other Web pages of special interest.

• HTML Format
  I send out Diabetes Update email in HTML format, which all Web browsers and most modern email programs can display. HTML has live links to all the sites named in the text so that with a simple click of a mouse you can connect to the site you have just been reading about.

• My Guarantee
  This newsletter:
  1. Is and will remain free.
  2. Will never include advertising (except targeted Google ads at the bottom of the web page and not in the email newsletter).
  3. Nor will I ever sell, rent, or trade your email address to anyone.
  4. I will link sources of information.
  5. I will disclose any conflict of interest.
  6. If and when I learn of any errors of fact, I will correct them.

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